plebeian; for the name of T. Caecilius in Livy (4.7, comp. 6), the
patrician consular tribune in B. C. 444, is a false reading for T.
Cloelius. A member of this gens is mentioned in history as early as the fifth century B. C.;
but the first of the Caecilii who obtained the consulship was L. Caecilius Metellus Denter, in
284. The family of the Metelli became from this time one of the most distinguished in the
state. Like other Roman families in the later times of the republic, they traced their origin
to a mythical personage, and pretended that they were descended from Caeculus, the founder of
Praeneste [CAECULUS], or Caecas, the companion of Aeneas. (Festus,
s. v. Caeculus.) The cognomens of this gens under the republic are BASSUS, DENTER, MIETELLUS, NIGER, PINNA, RUFUS, of which the Metelli are the best known: for those whose
cognomen is not mentioned, see CAECILIUS.